Automated workflow technologies are designed to improve productivity in the workplace. By automating various types of business processes, workflow technologies allow business transactions to be conducted more efficiently.
In one example, a business process includes a number of decisions or actions related to the processing of a document (e.g., an electronic document). Specifically, in one instance, the business process relates to the evaluation process of a submitted electronic insurance application. The electronic application is submitted by an applicant and a series of actions and decisions are taken on the electronic application to determine whether to approve or reject the applicant.
To model this business process, a workflow can include a number of activities that corresponds to different steps of the business process. At each of the activities, an action (e.g., determining whether an applicant meets a specific criteria) can be taken. Clearly then, an important part of an automated workflow technology is on how decisions are made in the workflow. And usually, a rules engine is responsible for evaluating rules utilized in a workflow.
However, under conventional approaches, workflow software products and rules engines have been delivered as separated technologies with limited integration. As a result, this lack of integration delivers a disconnected experience to users. In particular, a user is unable to directly model rules against different aspects of a workflow.